BY SHAH NAWAZ MOHAL AND FARID SABRI
- Capital severed from KP as Nov 2 approaches
- Entry points to Islamabad sealed with containers
- PTI’s Arif Alvi, Imran Ismail released after brief detention
In a bid to stop workers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from entering Islamabad, the government on Monday locked down all entry points leading to the Capital, as thousands of PTI workers managed to push through the main blockade at Swabi interchange, but were barred near Burhan interchange from marching further towards the capital territory due to intense teargas shelling from law enforcers.
Clashes between PTI workers and police took place on the Peshawar-Islamabad motorway as well as Swabi interchange, Attock border and Burhan interchange. Pitched battles also continued between police and PTI workers near Bani Gala the entire Monday.
Authorities in Punjab have also closed a motorway using shipping containers, as police and paramilitary forces stand guard around the highway.
PTI Chief Imran Khan has vowed to stage a million-strong demonstration on November 2 for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s resignation and accountability after Panama Papers revealed his children owned offshore bank accounts.
Containers and barricades were placed along the Islamabad-Peshawar motorway to stop Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak from heading towards the capital. As night fell, PTI activists used cranes to remove the various obstacles and containers placed on the route to Islamabad.
Earlier in the day, Khattak’s convoy came under intense teargas shelling at Haroonabad bridge in Swabi. Police and Frontier Constabulary personnel used tear gas shells to try and disperse thousands of stick-wielding party workers when they tried to remove barricades put in place by police.
TV footage showed protesters fleeing from clouds of tear gas after leaving the cranes where they were. Some protesters also fainted due to shelling, while others were injured by rubber bullets. Those affected were taken to hospitals.
The convoy, led by Khattak, came under intense teargas shelling again at Burhan interchange. Till the filing of this report, PTI workers were trying to remove the containers and blockades erected in their way to Islamabad.
PTI LEADERS RELEASED AFTER BRIEF DETENTION:
PTI leaders Arif Alvi and Imran Ismail were released after a brief detention by Islamabad police on Monday afternoon. The two leaders were stopped at Korang entry point en route to Bani Gala and arrested when they threatened to launch a sit-in against the arrest of PTI workers.
TV footage showed dramatic scenes as police officers pushed the MNA toward a van and Arif Alvi resisted.
Police officers wrestled with Alvi who, at one point, also fell to the ground, but police succeeded in pushing him into the hi-roof van.
Within hours of their arrest, Alvi and Ismail were set free on the orders of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
Talking to media after his release, Arif Alvi alleged that they were manhandled, arrested and hauled away in a police van. He said the PTI would not back off come what may.
Imran Ismail on Twitter said he was “arrested brutally”.
PTI leader Shireen Mazari accompanied by her counsel managed to enter Bani Gala, but things didn’t go the same way for other PTI female MPAs Raheela Mehdi and Rubina Akhter who were arrested by women police and shifted to woman police station in a prisoners van. Raheela Anwar, Doctor Nosheen and other female PTI workers were also arrested and taken to a police station.
ROADS DUG UP TO STOP TO DISRUPT MOBILITY:
PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi raised question about blockades placed in and around the capital. “If containers were removed on your orders yesterday, then on whose orders have they been reinstalled?”
“Why were roads dug up again? The government has destroyed the metal road going to Bani Gala to prevent any vehicle coming or going… Is it to prevent Imran Khan from reaching the court?”
The Supreme Court earlier fixed the date of a hearing for the Panama Papers leaks case for Nov 1, just a day before the party’s planned ‘lockdown’ of the capital.
PTI Spokesman Naeemul Haq urged Islamabad High Court judge Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui to implement his Aug 27 order which, he said, capital police was “blatantly violating”.
“The containers have not been removed and people are still being stopped,” he said.
Also, five feet deep trenches have been dug up at three places on Rukshana Bangash Road that encircles Bani Gala in order to prevent PTI workers from reaching Imran Khan’s residence.
AFFAIRS AT BANI GALA:
PTI Chief Imran Khan on Monday demonstrated his fitness by performing pushups alongside party supporters. Ardent PTI supporter and singer Salman Ahmed also performed pushups alongside Imran Khan.
Dressed in a tracksuit, the PTI chairman counted the pushups. “I am still not tired,” he exclaimed amid loud cheers and clapping.
“Nawaz Sharif and the ‘motu gang’ cannot even compare to our women,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court on Monday allowed the PTI to hold its protest in Parade Ground and directed the district administration to take action if the party attempted to lock down Islamabad.
A day after Interior Minister Nisar gave clear-cut instructions to police not to arrest any leaders of the PTI, police in twin cities arrested more than 459 political workers. Six workers who were arrested from Bani Gala on Friday were granted bail by Judicial Magistrate Nasrullah Baloch.
Furthermore, the ICT administration finalized the list of 94 leaders of PTI. At least 800 party workers, chairmen and councillors of the PTI, AML and PAT were also booked for violation of the Section 144.
Police on Monday registered a First Information Report against PTI leader Amin Gandapur, from whose car five Kalashnikov rifles, a pistol, six magazines, a bulletproof vest, alcohol and three tear gas shells were recovered on Sunday.
Gandapur on Monday claimed there was no alcohol in his car. “There was no alcohol in my car. I drink honey,” he said.
